Patent GB-190221090-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Perforators more particularly for use with Automatic Telegraphic Transmitters.
Inventor: GELL JOHN
Filed: 1902-09-27
Granted: 1903-07-02
Abstract: 21,090. Gell, J. Sept. 27. Telegraphs.-A machine for perforating tape, for automatic transmitters, is driven by a rotary motor, and operated by finger keys a, Fig. 2, one for each letter, and one to cause omission of the normal spaces in front of the letters; a bar a<1> to produce additional space is also provided. The letter keys slide vertically, a r held up by springs, and engage wooden levers g, which operate vertical sliders l, n, carrying sets of rollers o spaced according to the letter code. When a letter key is depressed, the corresponding rollers o raise some of thirteen bars u, which h extend across all the sets of rollers o, and are pivoted at their ends to parallel links so that they move vertically. The motion is limited by an adjustable stop bar. Eight of the bars u act through spring-pressed levers 8 to insert corresponding bolts 10 through a vertical slider, in a box 2, into holes in eight punch bars, so that the punches thus connected move with the slider. These punches are in two rows, between which a central row of five punches is placed. Four of the central punches are operated by contact of the adjacent symbol punches ; the fifth central punch is always operated by the vertical slider. The box 2 is fixed on a table 19, over which the tape passes. The vertical slider is linked at 23 to a horizontal lever 60, which at one end is carried on an adjustable fulcrum, and at the other is forked to engage a cam 56, shown in plan. in Fig. 4, on a cam-shaft 55. This shaft is driven by a spring barrel 41, the spring in which is wound by the rotary motor 47 ; a stationary pawl 52 prevents unwinding. The cam-shaft 55 makes one turn for a letter, its motion being limited by two studs 57<a>, 57<b> engaging an escapement lever 70. Normally this lever is held as shown in Fig. 4 by a spring, but one of the bars u, Fig. 2, is raised by any letter key a, or by a roller on a lever carrying the space bar a, and acts through a bell-crank lever to shift the escapement lever 70. The lever 70 is made in two parts, one sliding lengthwise on the other under the tension of a spring, to cushion the stoppage of the stud 57<a>. The lever 70 is supported by a roller 76, Fig. 8. The tape is fed by a pin-wheel 90, Fig. 2, below a spring-pressed roller 134. The pins are carried by a ring secured on the wheel 90. The pin-wheel 90 is connected to a ratchet-wheel 87, Fig. 8, and this is driven by a pawl 96, carried by links loose on the shaft 88, and linked to a beam 86, which is supported by a vertical link 82 engaging an edge cam or a grooved cam 58 on the cam-shaft 55, Fig. 4. The tape is fed after perforation in one turn of the cam-shaft 55. The vertical link 82, Fig. 8, is guided by stationary rollers at the lower end, and by radius arms at the upper end. The beam 86 carries teeth 102 to engage reverse teeth on the ratchet-wheel 87, and prevent excess motion ; a stationary pawl prevents reverse motion. The extent of feed of the tape is varied for different letters by providing four fulcra 118 for the beam 86 ; these fulcra are bolts which are slid into a stationary box 119 by linkage to levers above vertical pins on four of the bars u, Fig. 2. These vertical pins slide in a guide-plate, which is movable a short distance horizontally by linkage to the space-omission key ; when this key is held down, the vertical pins are placed under different levers, and the feed movement is reduced so that the first and last central holes of successive letters coincide, the space between the letters being thus eliminated. Combinations of symbols other than letters are thus produced. For adjusting the fulcrum of the punch-driving lever 60, and the stop-bar above the bars u, each of these parts, such as y, Fig. 2<a>, is held by headed screws 1 inserted through thicker screws z, which are passed through stationary supports x and bear against the adjustable parts y. The toothed compound ratchet-wheel 87, Fig. 8, may be replaced by a pinwheel. The upward movement of the beam 86 may be limited by a set of stops, movable similarly to the fulcra 118.